An NYPD drone captured four kids — including a 12-year-old — subway surfing in The Bronx last week, leading to the department’s 200th bust for the dangerous stunt since cops launched a crackdown in 2023.
The hair-raising footage, captured by a police Technical Assistance Response Unit drone, caught the careless daredevils — between 12 and 16 years old — traipsing atop a northbound No. 6 train as it zipped under the Westchester Avenue Bridge around 2:30 p.m. Thursday, police said.
The clip shows the four youths first climbing onto the roof of the speeding train and getting in position in a line — while whipping out their phones. They then jump up and down a few times and jiggle.
The train was eventually stopped at the Parkchester station and held there until cops showed up and took the youngsters into custody and charged them with reckless endangerment, an NYPD rep said Tuesday.
“These apprehensions marked the 200th subway surfing apprehension by the Drone Team’s operations since deployment began in November of 2023, and 200 lives potentially saved in just the last 20 months,” the representative said in an email.
Subway surfing has been a dangerous and illegal urban trend in recent years, all too often leaving teen daredevils seriously injured or dead in the Big Apple.
On July 4, a 15-year-old boy was killed when he plunged off a southbound No. 7 train as it pulled into the Queensborough Plaza station around 2:45 a.m.
Last month, a teenager was left in critical condition while pulling off stunt in The Bronx, and a 24-year-old woman was killed when she was struck by a Manhattan train in separate transit tragedies.
As early as 2024, MTA officials pleaded with Big Apple parents to intervene and ensure that their kids wouldn’t be drawn into the potentially deadly trend.